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Friday, November 14, 2014

Happy Happy Release Day Blitz eARC Review & Excerpt: Written in the Stars by Lily Velden

Lily Velden lives on the east coast of Australia, her family having emigrated from Holland when she was a child.
She’s both a left and right brain person, holding qualifications in both Finance and Fine Arts. She tells her friends that her way with numbers will make her a profitable artist and writer… one day.
Lily has always had a love of language and a beautifully crafted sentence, and admits to having a fetish for collecting quotes, poems, and song lyrics. What she won’t admit to is how many notebooks she’s filled with those quotes… Her fascination carries on into her artworks where she often incorporates text. When a shoulder injury slowed down her art practice she decided to explore her love of the written word more fully and began writing. “I’ll paint my pictures with words.”Not that she’s abandoned artmaking in its entirety—Lily collaborates on the designs for all her book covers.
There are many things Lily loves, here are just a few of the PG rated ones: a good laugh (all the better if caused by a naughty joke), the smell of freshly baked goods and mown grass, a smile from a stranger, rainbows after the rain, and witnessing a promise kept.

Buy your copy and get a bonus short story – Life According to Buddy! To get your complimentary story, email Wayward Ink Publishing after purchase.

Review

My Rating: 4 of 4 Stars

(Based on Short&Light Read Category)

Sebastian Robson, I guess, had been a little bit coerced into joining a televised dating game called Written in the Stars. His best friend, Declan, primped him, coached him, practically did a makeover so he would have a chance to win a date with a handsome prize. However, after all that was said and done, Sebastian lack of filter leaked through, much to Declan's misery but to the delight of the potential date.

This is a very, very short read but within a few minutes of fast reading, snorting in laughter was unexpected. This is a true comedy of errors that ends happily for Sebastian. It's 26 pages of fun and laughter that shows being honest may just be the best way to go if one looks for a happily ever after.

Highly recommended short and light read.

Excerpt

“Oh, I don’t think you need to worry about that, Mom. I don’t think they let you swear on prime time telly.”

“Well, I certainly hope not, dear, because I have not only Granny May coming but also Nanna Robson. And then there’s Uncle Phil and his wife, Delores, and you know how Old School she is. If she had her way, we’d still be living in the Victorian era. Honestly, I’m sure she has a pole lodged up… well, never you mind, you know how she can be. And Grandpa Robson would be most upset if he heard you blaspheming and making a mockery of the Queen’s English on the telly.”

“Mom—”

“Aunt Sue and Uncle Tom are coming up from Birmingham, and bringing the twins with them. Ned is coming, too. He’s bringing that floozie he’s been dilly dallying with since the divorce. I thought that would stop Cheryl coming, but, God love her, she says she doesn’t care and that she’s bringing a male friend. Is that what they’re calling a boyfriend these days? A male friend? God only knows who it is. She says we don’t know him. I do so hope he’s a nice lad, though. She deserves someone nice after the run-around Ned gave her. Between you and me, if he wasn’t my cousin, I’d give him a clip around the ears. I just hope your brother Jordy doesn’t say something to him. I don’t want them spoiling your night. And Carol—you remember Carol, don’t you? From bingo?—well, she’s coming with her new bloke, and—”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Mom! Who didn’t you invite?”

“Father Henderson, which is probably just as well if you’re going to take the Lord’s name in vain and swear like a trooper, Sebastian.”

I flushed—not even the ten or fifteen thousand miles and God only knew how many seas and oceans that separated Sydney from the UK managed to dim my mother’s ability to reduce me to feeling like a ten-year-old again.

“Sorry, Mom, but, jeez, it sounds like the entire extended family and half of Yorkshire are going to be watching.”

“Well, Aunt Peg said she can’t because she has to work, though I promised her we’d record it, but other than that….”

I groaned. I was going to shoot Declan. How could he run off and tell my mom about my going on Written in the Stars? How could he offer to livestream it to her? He knew what she was like. Come the fourteenth of February, my humiliation would be complete. I’d never be able to return to the UK.